Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Devolution means the delegation of central government powers to other governmental bodies while Parliament retains sovereignty. In this case, Parliament would permit the formation of popularly elected Scottish assembly with the power to determine spending priorities in areas such as education, housing, health and agriculture. The Assembly would have no taxing power, but would receive a block grant from Parliament. Parliament retains authority over economic and financial policies, regional trade and international representation, and has an all-important veto over any assembly action that "threatens the national interest...
Only 52 per cent of those who voted on devolution favored the plan, and low turnout resulted in only 33 per cent of those eligible to vote endorsing the plan. Parliament's legislation stipulated that 40 per cent of those eligible to vote had to approve the new Assembly before Scotland could hold elections to fill the Assembly already prepared in Edinburgh...
...This is a struggle for the soul of the country." So declared an impassioned leader of the upstart Scottish National Party, as Britain approached a long-awaited referendum on "devolution," the Labor government's plan to transfer authority in health, education, housing and other matters from the Parliament in Westminster to regional assemblies to be established in Edinburgh and Cardiff. What prompted Labor's initiative was not a question of soul but of cold politics. Though the Nationalists had been campaigning for greater independence for years, they never won much attention until 1974, when the Scottish party...
Since no party in parliament commands a solid majority, many politicians believe the only hope for a strong government that could impose national belt-tightening lies in a grand coalition between the two biggest political groups: Ecevit's social-democratic Republican People's Party and the main opposition, former Premier Suleyman Demirel's conservative Justice Party. In response to public outrage over the Ipekçj assassinations last week, there were some signs of renewed political moves toward such a government of national unity, even though Ecevit and Demirel are notorious personal antagonists...
...sporadic work stoppages there and in other cities by public employees fouled up the operations of hospitals and schools. Thus even though the public workers' walkout finally seemed headed toward a settlement, there was an air of desperation about Labor Prime Minister James Callaghan when he appeared in Parliament. Waving a new 19-page peace treaty with his Labor government's once strongest backer, the powerful Trades Union Congress (T.U.C.), Callaghan declared: "We stand by this document, and we will win the election with...